


Weaver’s Outcasts

by CopyQat



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Shadow Weaver is a good mom, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Gen, or at least she tries to be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24902362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CopyQat/pseuds/CopyQat
Summary: She left it. All the power and authority that came with being Hordak’s second hand to raise 5 children in the middle of the Whispering Woods.The worst part? She couldn’t even tell if she regretted it.
Relationships: Adora & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Shadow Weaver & the Horde Kids
Comments: 32
Kudos: 173





	1. A Terrible Idea

**Author's Note:**

> Show: so shadow weaver is a bad person and an even worse mom k
> 
> Me: cool 
> 
> My au loving brain: but what if she wasn’t

This was a ridiculous idea.

A stupid, idiotic idea that Shadow Weaver could not believe she thought was a good idea for even a second, let alone actually going through with it. She could have just left the Fright Zone with Adora, made sure she was safe, made sure Hordak didn't even get the chance to send the girl to a meaningless death or cripple her in one of his ludicrous training sessions .

But no. No of course she couldn't leave the rest of Adora’s little group in that hell hole, some small but very loud part of her wouldn’t let her. So here she was, in the middle of the Whispering Woods, with five children she had to feed herself, living in a makeshift tent she had to share with said children.

Why she was doing this, was completely lost on her.

\---------------

“Ms. Weaver!”

She had just come back from a nearby village with enough food for the rest of the week (most of which was stolen) when she heard the shrill cry of her favorite of the children she took. Looking in the direction the girl was coming from she saw Adora running as fast as she could towards her with a distressed look on her face.

When the girl finally reached her, panting for breath, she let out an annoyed sigh “Yes, Adora?” She could already feel the headache coming.

“Lonnie chased Catra up a tree!” she exclaimed. Of course she did, trouble seemed to follow that cat like a plague, just yesterday she was washed down the river trying to catch fish in her mouth. She sighed before walking further into their camp and setting down the food, save one bag.

“I thought I told you to look after her, Adora.” The blonde girl’s face scrunched up in anguish. “I tried to stop Lonnie but-” Shadow Weaver shushed her. “Just show me where they are.”

As they began walking towards the two remaining girls Adora began rambling on about what happened, none of which was acknowledged by Shadow Weaver as she simply tried to keep the throbbing in her head at bay. “Where are the boys.”

“Kyle and Rogellio went looking for berries near the river.” she answered. At the very least she did not have to worry about them for the moment.

As they went further into the woods, the sound of yelling eventually cut through the silence. As they finally reached the tree the kitten was stuck in Shadow Weaver could see Lonnie on the ground throwing twigs at the girl, while Catra seems to have dug her claws as far into the wood as possible.

“Lonnie.” The girl in question drops the stick in her hand before turning, her face etched with fear. “What are you doing?” Lonnie looks around, before unconvincingly responding “Catra won’t come down from the tree so I thought I could knock her out of it…”

“SHE’S LYING!”

“HOW WOULD YOU-”

The three girls froze as the area around them seemed to grow darker and colder. They all turn towards Shadow Weaver, who seems unnervingly calm. She walks up to Lonnie before dropping the remaining bag into the girl’s arms. “Go make dinner Lonnie.”

The girl opens her mouth to argue before thinking better of it and running back to camp. Once out of view Shadow Weaver turns her gaze from Lonnie to the girl currently shaking in the tree. “Catra, get down from there.”

The kitten shifts uncomfortably, “...i can’t…”

“What do you mean you can’t Catra.”

“I don’t know how…”

“You will never know how if you never try, Catra.” she says glaring at the girl. Catra nervously eyes the ground before making her way to the trunk and tries to climb down. About a third of the way down she starts to slip.

Adora panics, “CATRA!” She runs towards the tree to try and catch her best friend, but ends up just using her body to break the cat girl’s fall. As they both sit up Weaver let’s one of her shadows relax. It’d be a hassle if Catra ended up breaking a limb.

As Adora begins worrying over Catra, Shadow Weaver walks back to their camp. She had to make sure Lonnie doesn’t poison their food…

...again.

\---------------

After dinner Weaver goes straight to bed. She’s tired and her headache won’t leave her.

Their tent isn’t anything special, just a sheet covering the entrance to a shallow cave that used to belong to one of the many monsters that inhabit the woods. She’s attempting to build a proper shelter for them with her shadows, but they didn’t exactly teach architecture at Mystacor.

Once she’s settled in and closed her eyes however she finds sleep evading her, inevitably leading to her thoughts running rampant. Why is she doing this, in the Horde she had everything she wanted, power, authority, a runestone for god's sake. Why would she throw all that away for these children! Why would she-

These thoughts are interrupted when the cloth covering their shelter is opened and quiet footsteps echo through the cave. Soon enough the whispering begins.

“A-are you sure this i-is a good idea…?’

“It’ll be fine, stop your worrying.”

“Y-yeah but-”

“If you keep talking you’ll” wake her up!”

Gods these children would be slaughtered if they were ever sent on a stealth mission. The thought sent a twisting feeling in her gut. Why-

Weaver feels herself still as five small bodies crowd around her. They are uncomfortably close and she really should tell them to move…

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea...


	2. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Definitely not bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kept getting stumped on how to write this chapter but ultimately I like how it turned out. Hopefully you enjoy too :)

If there was one thing this… experience had revealed, it was a glaring problem with how she had been using the Black Garnet. And that was that she had become reliant on it.

It was blatantly clear to Shadow Weaver after being separated from the runestone that it was like a drug. Once she had a taste of the kind of power it could bring her, she couldn’t get enough of it. But of course, like with any drug there seemed to be drawbacks.

She could not seem to draw magic naturally like she used to. No matter how hard Weaver tried she couldn’t draw enough magic on her own, for even the most simplest of spells. She could still summon and manipulate her shadows, but Weaver’s more powerful spells were unavailable to her. That, needless to say, was a problem.

The Whispering Woods were full of dangers that could tear a squadron of horde soldiers apart, and while she was confident she could take care of most of the hostile creatures with just her shadows alone, it became more questionable when the children got involved. If just the thought of them being killed was enough to send twisting sensations to her stomach… well she’d rather not find out what would happen if they actually were.

Besides if they died this whole endeavor would be a gigantic waste of her time.

So that meant she needed more power, which meant she needed magic, and the easiest way to create pure magic in the middle of a forest was by growing it. The only problem with growing magic was that it took time. Time they might not have if she used all of it defending themselves from a group of monsters, only for a Horde squadron or Rebel party to be made aware of their camp.

And even if that didn’t happen, there were a countless number of things that could happen to the children when she was out collecting food.

So the solution was simple. If Shadow Weaver could not always be there to protect the children, they would need to learn to protect themselves.

\---------------

Weaver was tending to her garden while the children trained, occasionally looking up from her work to observe the kids. Adora and Catra were sparring against Lonnie and Rogelio, the two humans using sparing staffs she grabbed when a group of rebels were visiting one of the nearby villages, while the other two were using their natural gifts for fighting. 

Meanwhile, Kyle was…

“E-excuse me, ma’am?” There he was. Weaver set down her shears, and stood to full height before addressing the boy. “Yes, Kyle?”

“Well, uh… I was just wondering why I wasn’t, um, training… with everyone else?” He asked, while fidgeting. She stared at him for a moment before finally responding, “Ah yes, I almost forgot.” Pulling out a thick book, seemingly out of nowhere, she dropped it in the boy's arms, causing him to stagger back. Afterwards Weaver returned to her gardening.

Kyle took one look at the book in his hands. “Uh, ma’am…?”

“Yes, Kyle.”

“This is a cookbook… why would you-”

“Because, Kyle” she continued, without once looking up from her work. “You are uncoordinated, pay little attention to your surroundings, and have shown yourself to be much more of a liability in any kind of combat situation that may arise. It would be in your’s and the other’s best interest if you were as far from any fight as possible.”

The blonde boy stared at the woman’s back for a few seconds before looking back at the book in his hands. “Oh… um… y-yes ma’am…” He turned to find a quiet spot to read by himself.

…

…

“That being said.” Kyle turned back to his caretaker. “Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you must defend yourself…” She reaches into her cloak and pulls out a red and black dagger, before handing it to the blonde. He takes it, staring at the weapon before she continues. “It is only to be used when absolutely necessary. Should you show yourself to be responsible with it I will… consider letting you join the others in training.” The sorceress turns to look at him, adding “ I still expect you to read the book.”

Kyle continues to stare at her for a few seconds before his shocked expression shifts to one of determination, “Yes, ma’am!” He runs off, careful not to trip and fall as he leaves. Shadow Weaver watches him go before turning back to her garden.

He’d probably find a way to stab himself by the end of the week.

\---------------

“Hah! We win!” Catra shouts triumphantly over her and Adora’s defeated opponents. Adora giggled at her best friend’s antics, while Lonnie glared at her. “Aw please, we all know the only reason you won was because you had Adora on your team, plus you cheated!”

Catra’s ears pin back in anger. She opens her mouth to argue back when Shadow Weaver steps into view. “I see you all down with your training.” She turns to face the blonde of the group, “Excellent work as always Adora.” The girl in question puffs out her chest proudly with a wide smile. One of Catra’s ears lifts hopefully. “The rest of you still need improvement.”

“WHAT! But I beat them just like Adora did!” Catra complained. Weaver levels a glare at the girl, before responding “I will discuss your performance later. For now I will settle for these two.” She turns to address the other two.

Catra is about to yell again, when Adora pulls on her arm, a slightly pleading look on her face. “Come on Catra, let's go look for those berries Kyle and Rogelio found.” Reluctantly the cat girl lets her friend pull her towards the river, her ears drooped while they walk. With the two girls out of sight, Weaver gives the two defeated children her full attention.

“Can the two of you tell me what you did wrong” Lonnie and Rogelio look at each other before the girl responds, “Uh… Because we were fighting Adora. Plus Catra-”

“No.”

Lonnie’s mouth shuts closed as she and Rogelio stare at the sorcerer wide eyed. “Lonnie, you wear yourself out too quickly. You put all your strength into every attack and it leads to you not having enough energy to defend yourself or attack when it really matters.” She turns to the lizard boy, “And Rogelio. You pick a target and then pursue them relentlessly with no strategy in mind. A smart or quick fighter, like Adora or Catra, will easily be able to exploit this. You are not an animal, stop fighting like one.”

She turns to leave, “Other than that, the two of you did… adequately.” As she leaves the two children look at each other with slight smiles on their faces, before running off to find Kyle.

\---------------

“Why does she have to be so mean!” Catra throws a handful of pebbles into the nearby water before returning to her sulking. She did just as good as Adora, so why can’t Shadow Weaver just-

“Hey Catra!” The blonde girl comes running out of the foliage with her hands cupped. Once she’s close enough she holds them out to the kitten, revealing them to contain a handful of red berries. “These are the ones Kyle and Rogelio found right? Here you can have some.” Catra glares at the berries before growling at her friend and turning away.

Adora deflates, “Come on Catra, you know I only won because you were helping me…” Clawing at the ground, the kitten responds “Then why can’t Shadow Weaver see that!” Adora tries thinking up a response, but can only come up with “Maybe she saw something when we were fighting she thought you could improve on, she does it with all of us after all.”

“Everyone but you…” She mumbles.

“What was that?”

“Nothing…”

Catra hugs her knees to her chest, still facing away from her friend. Adora frowns at this. She just wants her friend to be happy and when she gets like this she’s not sure what she’s supposed to do. After a few moments she walks to the front of the cat girl and shakes her. “Well… I think you're just as strong as me.”

Catra lifts her head just enough for her eyes to be visible, but not enough to show her face turning red. “...really…” Smiling, Adora responds, “Of course I do! You’re super fast and really, really smart. That’s why we’re perfect partners!”

The kitten tries to stifle a laugh “Because you’re a big dummy?”

“Hey!” Adora pushes her friend, causing her to roll on her back laughing. Still laughing, Catra scoops up some water before splashing it in the blonde’s face. Adora tackles the girl, as they begin play fighting, the smile on her face never leaving. Catra is happy right now, and really? That's all Adora could ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m trying to keep Shadow Weaver... well Shadow Weaver so things like obvious favoritism and such will continue to make an appearance. My whole idea around her character in this story is that she’s a better person, not necessarily a good person so yeah.
> 
> I’m not entirely sure if next chapter will have SW interactions with Catra and Adora or it will be the misadventures of shadow mamas forest children. Only time will tell.
> 
> Other than that, here’s a fun fact. This story originally started of as a morality swap au, until I latched onto the good mom shadow weaver idea. Personally I like this idea more :)


	3. Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few lessons.
> 
> Who’s actually learning? Who knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> _Kicks chapter under door_
> 
> Uhh hi. I’m really sorry this took so long, being stuck at home has really took a toll on my motivation, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to do for this chapter.
> 
> I cant say when the next chapter will come, could be a week, could be a month but im hoping to not make you wait this long again.
> 
> That being said hope you enjoy.

“...mrrm...”

“Again.”

“...this is stupid…”

“Catra.”

“Uuuugh…”

The kitten had lost count of how many times she had been forced to repeat this process over and over and over again, only to end up with the same results. This was so stupid why was Shadow Weaver even trying to teach her this when it was clear from the last few hours that she couldn’t do it. She could be using this time to hang out with Adora, but _nooo_ she had to sit here and look stupid all day.

Grumbling to herself Catra raised her hands summoning a rune at her fingertips. Once it was fully formed she spread out her fingers, the outer border of the fragmenting and splitting from the rest of the spell. She then began to close her fingers, the fragments beginning to spiral towards the center as she finished.

Catra took a moment to critique her work. It looked pretty close to the way Weaver one had shown her and if she was lucky…

But of course, since the world hated her, the second her fingers left the sigil it faded. Just. Like. Every. Other. Time.

“This is so STUPID!” Catra shot up, her claws extended and fur poofed. “Catra.” Shadow Weaver warned, but the girl could barely hear her over her own raging emotions. “You’ve kept me here for HOURS doing NOTHING! I could be playing with Adora or doing ANYTHING other than sitting here…”

Catra had to stop as she ran out of air. As she caught her breath Catra glared daggers at the sorcerous, who even with the mask seemed to be radiating uninterest. She was just so tired and restless and so done with this stupid magic stuff. “Why you making me do this anyway”

“If you wish to survive in this world you’ll need more than cheap tricks and claws Catra.”

The kitten’s ears folded back, her glare deepening. “Well obviously I can’t do this.” She stomped towards the exit to the room, this was just a gigantic waste of time. Besides she didn’t need any stupid mag-

“Of course I get stuck with the defective magicat.”

Catra freezes

“What?”

Shadow Weaver began lazily picking at her nails “You are a magicat, a people that are said to have magic running through their very veins. So for you to be unable to cast this spell rather…” She finally turned around, looking into Catra’s eyes almost… expectantly “disappointing.”

The words kept ringing in the girl’s head, she could feel her body begin to shake and her claws beginning to dig into her palms.

Catra stepped away from the exit.

Once she had returned to her spot, Catra reached out her hand, claws still out, and summoned the rune. The border fragmented and the pieces met in the center.

The kitten removed her paws, and the rune, _finally_ , began glowing. As the spell took effect Catra felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her, and moved to rub her eyes. Only for her hand to appear transparent.

Catra yelped, looking over the rest of her body which was in a similar state. While she wasn't completely invisible, her body giving off a slightly wavy effect, most wouldn’t be able to see her if they weren’t paying close attention.

If they were visible, Catra’s eyes would have appeared dilated. _This is SO-_

Weaver flicks at the girl's forehead. “Ow!” She rubs the spot on her head as the spell’s effects wore off. 

“You need more focus.” Weaver says, walking away from the girl. “A simple flick should not be enough to negate the spells effects.”

Catra took a step towards her guardian, ears perking up hopefully.

“You may leave now.” Shadow Weaver said without looking at her.

Catra’s face and ears fell. She ran out of the room on all fours, water pooling in her eyes and her breath quickening. _I did the stupid spell and she still can’t… I did the spell and she still won’t… why won’t she…_

Her limbs gave out as the earlier exhaustion caught up with her. Catra growled, pushing herself up to rub her tiredness away.

“Catra!”

The kitten's ears perked up slightly and she turned around. Adora was running after her, worry clear on her face.

Once she reached her, Adora tried hugging her friend asking “Catra what's wrong?”

“Nothing!” Catra said, pushing her arms away. 

Adora pouts, glaring slightly “I’m just trying to help.”

“I don’t need help! I’m just… just tired…” Catra responds, voice softening toward the end.

They continued to sit there for a while, Catra panting and occasionally rubbing at her eyes. 

Carefully, Adora reached to hold Catra’s hand. Catra let her, having calmed down more.

“...are you hungry? We can get something and then sleep in the sun a little bit okay.” 

Catra, too tired to talk, simply nodded and let her best friend lead her back towards their home.

_Why can’t I be good enough..._

\---------------

“Ms. Weaver?”

Adora stood in the entrance of one of the rooms the sorceress was able to complete. She had left Catra sleeping by the river, which was… worrying.

Catra was usually such a light sleeper she was able to tell when Adora tried to sneak off to explore the forest, so her friend being so tired that she didn’t wake up after Adora had to pry her claws off made her more anxious than when Catra came running from their shelter earlier that day.

She still wasn’t entirely convinced that she was “just tired” but she couldn’t exactly help when Catra won’t tell her what's wrong.

Shadow Weaver turned, sparing her a side glance, “Yes, Adora?”

Adora walked further into the room “I was wondering what you and Catra were doing all morning and…” The girl’s eyes traveled down slightly “if maybe next time you can let her out a little earlier?”

Weaver continued looking at her before returning to her work, answering “I was attempting to teach her magic and we took so long because she could not complete the spell.”

Adora’s eyebrows furrowed “Why?”

Weaver sighed “Catra will not be able to survive in this world with claws and speed alone, Adora.”

“But Catra’s got more than that, she’s smart, and flexible, and strong, and-”

“Fragile.” Weaver interrupted “All those qualities would be fine, _if_ she didn’t need to get close enough for her opponent to easily attack her to take advantage of them.”

“That doesn’t matter though, cause I’ll _always_ be there to protect her!” Adora declared proudly. Because she had to, they promised each other, and she would never break her promise.

Weaver paused before, almost sadly, saying “You don’t know that Adora.”

“You don’t know that either.”

Shadow Weaver was still for a moment longer, before reaching towards her face. Adora froze as she saw her remove her mask then turn towards her. Her face was horribly scarred, looking almost burnt around her left eye.

“I know from personal experience that you can’t always rely on people, Adora.”

As the shock of seeing her guardian’s face wore off Adora’s face morphed into one of pure determination “Then I’ll help train her. I’ll train her so good, that she’ll be as good as me one day.”

Weaver stared at the child a little longer… before turning back to her work, returning her mask to her face. “Fine, Adora. I will let her out early if you train her.” She turned to give Adora one last glance “But if I don’t see improvement I will keep her longer, understood”

Adora stared at Weaver, before nodding.

Weaver looked away, giving the girl a wave “You may leave now.”

As Adora left, Weaver thought on their conversation. Adora was right in that she wouldn’t know, she couldn’t tell the future, even as Light Spinner. But the world was not a kind place and if they weren’t prepared for that they would be ripped to shreds. The small, annoying, part of her buried deep in her mind hoped they would be able to protect each other.

She pinched her nose.

“These children will be the death of me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im not entirely sure on how this chapter came out so feedback is much appreciated, I hope you enjoyed it regardless :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed


End file.
